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My name is Malka Niknamfard and I am in my sophomore year at Macaulay Honors College in Brooklyn College. I am currently majoring in psychology and wish to pursue a career in the medical field in the future. I unfortunately was not able to attend the BioBlitz because I was away. However, I was able to visit the Los Angeles Zoo on August 29th and to explore the abundant wildlife that inhabits the zoo. Although I have been to the zoo multiple times in the past with my family, I usually viewed the zoo as an entertaining place to see animals and to have fun. This time however, I made sure to pay special attention to both the plants and the animals and how they interact with one another in order to essentially create a diverse biosphere.

When I visited the animals in the zoo, I immediately became aware of the interactions among the different animals. I  learned about the different animal species and compared and contrasted their behaviors, physiology, and anatomy. In addition, my visit to the zoo taught me a lot about the importance of environmental conservation. Zoos protect all animals, including endangered species by simulating a natural setting for animals to live safely. However, perhaps the most important thing I learned from my visit to the zoo is to truly appreciate nature and all it has to offer. It is very easy to overlook nature’s beauty and importance because human beings are surrounded by plants, trees, and flowers everyday. It is even more difficult for us as denizens of New York City to appreciate nature because of all the buildings, skyscrapers, and construction that have taken over New York’s skyline.

It is definitely essential for all citizens of New York to value the importance of maintaining the environment, and I am glad that Macaulay sought to instill the importance of conservation of the biosphere within its students. It is very easy to be oblivious to the science behind nature’s beauty  and people tend to overlook the fact that science is responsible for all the life that surrounds us. Visiting the zoo truly gave me a deeper understanding of how important it is to conserve wildlife and biodiversity. Without taking proper care of the environment, the thousands of animals that live in the wild would not be able to survive. I hope I get the chance to further explore and examine both animals and plants in their natural settings and I look forward to further enhancing my knowledge of preserving the environment and all the living things that inhabit the biosphere.

In terms of what I hope to learn from our Macaulay Seminar this semester, I have to admit that it was really refreshing to read that we would be learning about the role informal science plays in our interest in and understanding and appreciation of science and the world around us. I personally feel that the only way I have been exposed to science is by sitting in a lecture class and listening to a professor or by merely memorizing facts and terms that I would soon forget after my test was over. I hope this class will give me more insight into science’s presence in my daily life, and will teach me how important informal science learning opportunities are in our appreciation of nature and our environment.